Jehangir Park Karachi Reopens to Public

The park Gifted by a Zoroastrian philanthropist Behramji Jehangirji Raj Kotwala, to the people of Saddar in 1883, became a haven for heroin addicts and encroachers, but is now open to the public again.

On August 17, 2016, Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah visited the park and saw the poor conditions. From that day, he along with his principal secretary Naveed Kamran Baloch, Planning and Development Chairperson Mohammad Waseem and Karachi Package Project Director Niaz Soomro pledged to restore it.

He ordered the South deputy commissioner, also present at the time of the meeting, to drive out the encroachers from the park so that the park could be restored as soon as possible.

Waseem and Soomro were directed to plan out a PC-1and asked to get it approved by him. Thus, a Rs 200 million project was approved.

The restoration of the park took about a year to complete. The park is built over five acres of land, with an amphitheater, aviary, dinosaur park and library. It also includes two reverse osmosis (RO) plants, each capable of filtering 50 million gallons of water per day.

The RO plant is for drinking water for the visitors as well as residents residing near the park.The other plant is to keep the park green and fresh with plants.

It is also is fully equipped with its own security system under which closed-circuit television cameras are installed, monitored by the command and control center. The cameras don’t just monitor the interiors of the park, but also the surroundings.

The park officially opened to the public on Sunday, with a free entry valid for only two weeks. Later, a minimal fee would be charged to the park visitors.

The Sindh Government also vowed to keep the park maintained for years to come via the scheme’s project director.

“Now it is up to all of us to take care of the park and maintain its beauty and restored glory,” he said.

Saddar being the heart of Karachi and Jahangir Park being the heart of Saddar, Shah also pledged,“we have restored the palpitations of the heart and now, with the start of the restoration of old areas of the city, the whole of Saddar will be given a new look”.